Earlier this month, the capital of California hosted the Green California Summit, a conference dedicated to exploring progressive environmental policies in a state where "the water's warm" for reform.

Among the breakout sessions, Zac Taylor, Architecture for Humanity's Green Schools Research Coordinator, led a discussion on practical strategies for American public schools to secure resources for becoming more sustainable. The forthcoming Green Schools Investment Guide was previewed, and the three-person panel represented different elements in the equation for taking successful local action to improve learning spaces.

On Monday, April 8th, Guerrilla Green announced it's Round 3 Finalists, narrowing the competition down from 10 teams, to four. These teams have spent the last month doing everything from building irrigaton systems, to creating posters out of dirty air filters. A big congrats to all teams as they move onto the last round of the competition! Check out all of their amazing work below.

Last month, the Architecture for Humanity team was on hand for the opening gala of the Green Schools exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., where a fully functioning prototype of the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge Winner Sprout Space is currently on display.

We all know today's youngest generation gets a lot of heat for being brought up in such a tech focused world. Constantly, we hear that they are lazy, unmotivated and, unlike generations before, refuse to do anything other than sit in front of a screen. But here's a question, how can we expect otherwise, when all they have been offered is exactly what they are criticized for?

We decided to answer this with another question:
Given the proper motivation and support, what is this underestimated generation capable of?

The response to this counter-ask came in the form of ideas, from teens all across the United States. School being their most vital environment, we challenged students to come up with ways to better their learning spaces, in the eco-friendliest of fashions.

The classroom is a place where students spend their earliest years growing and developing. It’s an environment where kids and teens should be encouraged to discover themselves and their potential as evolving human beings. But most recently, with such intense focus on test scores and dwindling school budgets, the significance of this learning space has gone unnoticed, and the importance of an inspiring educational environment has become null. But have no fear, for Architecture for Humanity is changing that by way of Guerrilla Green, our latest school design initiative.

As of October 22, 2012 Architecture for Humanity launched a project that puts the fate of the classroom into the hands of the students. Formatted as a three round competition, Guerrilla Green challenges teens to visualize a plan to improve the spaces within their schools, and supports their visions by granting up to $13,000 to the most progressive ideas.

With less than a month until the submission deadline (ahem, February 1st), the Guerrilla Green challenge is making headway with spectacular proposals from across the United States - the count is at 40 and growing. We really can't think of a better way to kick off a new year than with brilliant teens working for environmental change within their schools.

With that said, we'd like to spotlight Youth Rock the Rebuild, a group of student musicians who perform to raise money for the betterment of humanity.

The Guerrilla Green Sustainable Showdown, part funded by school rock bands, challenges teens to turn innovative ideas into impactful solutions. We're accepting teen-created proposals through February 1st, 2013.

Guerrilla Green is a growing movement of frustrated young people tired of waiting for sustainable transformation in the built environment. The place they spend most of their time, the school campus, is usually built with little care to future generations and in some cases contain toxins that increase the risk of cancer in students and teachers. As more schools push for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) very few give an outlet for practical and tangible results.

On September 21, 2012, hundreds packed into Mill Valley, California’s Sweetwater Music Hall for a lineup featuring over a dozen Youth Rock the Rebuild bands for their first World Peace Day Concert. On stage, a dynamic crew of over forty talented teens took to stage to offer the full house a range of acts, from soft rock solo acts to jazz quartets, classic covers to self-scribed ditties.

Their goal: to rock the crowd, showcase their budding talent and raise awareness for Architecture for Humanity. The result: a sold out show with proceeds supporting Architecture for Humanity's new Green Schools program (which we’ll share more about later this month!) and a dancing audience by the end of the night.

In partnership with The Center for Green Schools at the United States Green Building Council, Architecture for Humanity invites you to join thousands of people around the world who will take action in their communities in support of healthy, sustainable schools for this year's Green Apple Day of Service.

Green Apple is a global movement to put all children in schools where they have clean and healthy air to breathe, where energy and resources are conserved, and where they can be inspired to dream of a brighter future.

Last month, right before the school year started anew, five members of Youth Rock the Rebuild paid a visit to Architecture for Humanity with a problem: how do we [they] get the word out about our concert series to raise awareness and funds for humanitarian issues? Zac, Elizabeth and I kinda beamed–not because we knew the answer, but because we knew a process that generates solutions from the very people looking for them: the charrette.

For the uninitiated, a charrette is a fancy French word for an intense design workshop with a goal of producing some tangible solution to a problem within a matter of hours. Architects and designers use the process all the time–not often to come to the "right answer," but to generate a lot of sensible options pointing the conversation in the right direction.